According to a recently concluded study by Alexander Kreuter, M.D, from Ruhr University of Bochum, Germany and colleagues, short-term application of topical corticosteroids and maintenance with a less potent agent can prove helpful to patients with IP (intertriginous psoriasis).

In this study, Alexander Kreuter, M.D, from Ruhr University of Bochum, Germany, and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial that compared 1 percent pimecrolimus (a new anti-inflammatory drug), 0.005 percent calcipotriol, 0.1 percent betamethasone and the vehicle (a similarly appearing cream with no active drug) in the treatment of IP with a four-week treatment period and a six-week follow-up without therapy. A total of 80 adult patients with the clinical diagnosis of IP were included, 20 patients in each of the four treatment groups.

“After four weeks of treatment, the three active compounds and the vehicle resulted in a significant decrease in mean (average) M-PASI score [Modified Psoriasis Area and Severity Index] (86.4 percent for 0.1 percent betamethasone, 62.4 percent for 0.005 percent calcipotriol, 39.7 percent for 1 percent pimecrolimus and 21.1 percent for vehicle),” the researchers found. “The 0.1 percent betamethasone was significantly more effective than 1 percent pimecrolimus during the study period.”

The findings of this study are expected to offer great relief to IP patients worldwide, who have been complaining of soreness and irritation from sweating. The previously-believed myth that corticosteroids bring some side effects with them when used in the long term was also refuted during this study.

In short, the study remarked that a short-term application of corticosteroids for acute disease followed by maintenance treatment with any of the less potent agents is regarded as a reasonable approach for the treatment of intertriginous psoriasis (IP).